And in our last election story of the week, we say thanks for the hard work to the more than 2,500 public officers who dutifully played their roles as the referees in the 2020 General Election. From what we could observe, they officiated the democratic process, during an ongoing pandemic, without any problems. Up until news time, none of the political parties have raised any public complaints of unfairness. And, the CARICOM observers say they observed, quote, "the smooth and timely opening of the polls; the seamless voting process and the efficient closing of the polls and tallying of votes. "
Our correspondents countrywide had varying experiences of interactions with the public servants in charge of the polling areas, but we've put together a few of the media-friendly encounters we had with Dangriga's Returning Officer, Ruthilia Gabriel:
Reporter
"We see a lot of people rolling in close to 5 o'clock, ma'am. Is that a norm?"
Ruthilia Gabriel - Returning Officer, Dangriga
"Well, I don't know if it's the norm, because it's my first time working here in Dangriga. But yes, normally, since our experience working elections, yes, this late hour, there's usually a rush at this hour."
Reporter
"Do you think there will be a rush for that entire, 2,000 plus [voters] who need to come in to vote?"
Ruthilia Gabriel
"I hope so (laughs). I hope so. We are prepared. The polls close at 6, but every person who is in line at 6 o'clock will vote. At our last polling station that just came in, they had a line way after 6, so, hence the reason for the delay in reporting the 6 o'clock count."
"As you notice, the Benguche polling area 96, A-K, just arrived, so we had agreed that our counting will start until all our 12 boxes are in. That just happened, but we have to give our officers a little break to have something to drink and eat because they have been working all day. They didn't have time to have breakfast or lunch at their stations."
Reporter
"Talk to us about being the referee. These elections are always - there are a lot of heightened emotions, people jealously guarding their party's interests. Was it difficult to keep them in line?"
Ruthilia Gabriel
"Well, we had meetings with them and much as possible, and to the best of our abilities, we try to be as professional as possible. And, what we can afford to one, we have to afford to everybody else. If we cannot afford one, then we can't afford for anybody, and that is how we have dealt with it."
After handing in the election results to the Chief Elections Officer, Gabriel returned back to her post as the Finance Ministry's Chief Internal Auditor.
Today, the Public Service Union also said thanks to the public servants.
In a press release sent this evening, the PSU said, quote, "This year, in particular, public officers made huge sacrifices in order to executive free and fair elections… Some had to travel vast distances to reach their polling stations through roads they never traveled before, due to the flood. Most worked far away from their homes and families. In some cases, public officers had to leave their children in the care of others for 2 nights in order to perform their election duties… All of our public officers were brave enough to risk their health and that of their family members to conduct the elections under the most adverse conditions ever - the COVID-19 pandemic.
To those public officers who showed up and worked diligently to run a smooth and peaceful election, we send a heartfelt 'Thank You!'" End quote.
